Falling Ash, Rising Heat: SOLID STEEL
by Igarashi Tsuki
Summary: The story of Zen. The strange metal male who appears in "Falling Ash, Rising Heat". This is his story and how he meet Ash and Olivia. A story of his adjustment to the era he finds himself in and how with help from Olivia, Ash and of the tropical natives, finds himself in a new journey
1. Prologue

Falling Ash, Rising Heat: Solid Steel

Prologue

"We must prevent the firing of the cannon!" a voice shouted above all else. The screams of the damned, the roars and explosions of the Pokemon and humans all around. The battle raged on in Kalos. The prevention of this ultimate weapon was the top priority as the end of the world was coming near.

Meanwhile in far off Johto, war raged on as well. The Great War of lore. In this time a single figure stood over a huddled figure slashing and hacking his foes with steel arm length blades of black steel and titanium. "Protect the princess…top priority" the figure spoke in a blank tone as his dull red eyes stared dead ahead at his attackers.

The skirmish was nothing more than a suicide mission for the attackers, as their loyalty lead them to swift, painless deaths. "Zen…s-stop," the princess spoke as the male's arms retracted the steel blades. His hood covered his face and head, only the red gleam of his eyes were visible from the shadow of his hood. His body splashed red with blood and his eyes now were full of life and staring at his mistress.

"Your majesty, you know my primal duty is to protect you. I was assigned to protect you and I devote my existence for you," Zen replied with a small smile as he wiped his forehead a little as an Aegislash and a Lucario appeared before them.

" _The way is clear, my lord,"_ Lucario spoke using the power of aura as Aegislash floated there in Shield form, seemingly nodding in confirmation. Zen looked at them as he held his hand out to the princess. "Come, we will be safe soon," he said to her as he smiled at her happily to reinsure her about her safety. She smiled back as she grabbed his hand and let herself be hoist into his arms as they ran through the forest as Lucario and Aegislash were the rear guard.

It would be an hour before they reached a small cave entrance. Zen let the princess down as he looked at Lucario and Aegislash and nodded as they relaxed and walked into the cave with them both. It was dark at first but slowly began to grow lighter and brighter until they reached a chamber filled with royal guards and some scientists and researchers. Instantly Zen turned to the princess. "What is the meaning of this?" he demanded as he grunted in pain as a sharp blade was plunged through his heart.

"I am sorry Zen…it is my turn to protect you," she spoke to him as tears flowed down her face. Her cheeks were covered with moisture as he looked down at her as he gritted his teeth as he gripped her wrist but felt weak and knew instantly what he was stabbed with. "You…bastards," Zen gasped as he slumped over the princess.

Zen would wake up a little a few hours later looking through the glass of his steel coffin, Watching the princess cry as he feebly tried to raise his hand to reach out to her. He felt weak and weightless in his coffin. His prison as he felt betrayed and hurt. His mission…his mission was to protect the princess, not the other way around.

He felt the sides of his vision go blurry as he worried why they were going blurry. He gasped a little as he watched the guards rush to the entrance and see his comrades get ravaged by his foes. His princess screamed in fear as he was unable to fight or move. The last thing he saw was the ceiling collapse and his princess kiss him good night.


	2. Chapter 1: Wakey Wakey

Falling Ash, Rising Heat: Solid Steel

 _Summary: The backstory of Zen Optima and Olivia and Ash. This is his daily life and his life before the events of_ _ **Falling Ash, Rising Heat**_ _and_ _ **Fallen Ash, Flaming Heat**_ _. Enjoy the romance between the ancient blade and rocky Kahuna as both try to find something within one another._

Chapter 1: Wakey Wakey

" _You will be the weapon to protect the princess"_

" _Your just a pawn in a bigger game!"_

" _A hunk of metal meant to be used to kill"_

The casket hummed with a weird vibration as the thing inside dreamt, it was dreaming of another time. Another place. It's sleep was peaceful as it had been for over a century since it began to dream. It waited, it's dreams were of memories it made. It stirred as light began to creep down into the place it was buried.

"Cynthia! We have found something!" a voice shouted, the noise faint to the thing's ears as it stirred. The sound of metal on metal began to grow louder as more and more light drained out the darkness as the thing eyes opened as it saw blurry figures looking down into its casket. It closed its eyes again as the casket was pulled out of the ground.

The people surrounding the casket were a mixture of archaeologists, historians, scientists and some famous trainers who wanted to be involved. This was an evacuation of a lost era of Johto history but there were also some artifacts from Kalos strangely.

"Cynthia, why are you doing this all of a sudden?" Byron asked as Rorak followed behind his father. They were curious why their Champion was so…focused on this project. It wasn't like her to just do this 24/7. She even denied several challengers just for this project. She was neglecting her duties to do this. Byron guessed it was about that young lad, Ash. Rorak and Byron were there to dig and for the archaeologists to dig up the top soil and the bedrock.

Olivia, Lenora and Steven were discussing fossils and stones as a loud noise was heard. A loud smashing sound as a huge curved metal blade was seen protruding from the casket. The group jumped back as they watched the casket with extreme caution. The atmosphere that was once rather calm and relaxed now was filled with a steely tension. "Who woke me from my slumber?" a voice asked from the hole in the casket as the blade shrank down and retracted as Pokémon were thrown out as a precaution. Milotic, Shieldon, Aggron, Metagross, Usaring and Tyrantrum appeared protecting their trainers and to detain this new threat.

A cackle came from the casket as the lid was blasted off as a stream of dust flowed out into the air as a metal hand grabbed the edge of the casket as it arose from its sleeping position. The group were visibly shocked by the appearance of the stranger. It was a young man who was about 16. His eyes were red, hair was gunmetal grey and it shone in the light. His skin was lightly tanned and seemed to slightly and dull shine from under the skin. But really it was his arms, lower jaw and legs that shocked them.

They were black steel. His fingers like sharp claws, his lower jaw had grey teeth and he didn't seem happy. He looked confused, disorientated and hostile. He found himself surrounded by enemies, he recognized the Pokémon but not the people. With his arm extended, a scythe appeared as particles formed it.

"Metagross! Hyper Beam!" Steven shouted the command as the huge four legged metal monster opened it's mouth and roared out a blast of heavy energy at the mysterious figure. The gathered watched in anticipation. Lenora and Olivia gasped a little though. The figure looked very young but it seemed that Steven had the right instinct though. He was dangerous.

The figure raised his scythe. His eyes glowed red as faint green lines of light flashed in his eyes as the blade glowed green as he cut the beam in half. He glared at Metagross and the others. The group backed off as they wondered what to do. They were all scared of this powerful being, it seemed that they wouldn't be able to beat him.

He grunted seeing them back off as he looked about and smirked as he suddenly appeared in front of Olivia and grabbed her before reappearing a few metres away from them. He held her in front of him as he smiled at them with a wicked grin. "Now back off and let me past," the figure ordered as the group were taken aback at this.

"P-please let me go," Olivia begged softly as she could feel the cold steel of his arm around her neck and seeing what he was capable of. The male grunted as he grabbed her and ran away from the group with Olivia. Shouts of surprise and concern were heard as they reacted to the action. Soon Olivia found herself with this strange man as the ruins flash past them.

She looked up a little hesitantly to him as he glared down at her. His red eyes seemed to scan her as he rushed out of the ruins to the crowd of police officers, International Rangers and even some military presence. He stopped and growled as he looked about as Pokémon and humans surrounded them. Quick response. It was to be expected, since so many high profile trainers were in this project. The Pokémon stepped forward once as they awaited the order to strike.

Olivia was about to speak to announce her presence when a single hand went up from an officer as a multitude of attacks. The light of the oncoming attacks shocked Olivia. They attacked knowing that she was there! The destruction of her kidnapper was more important than her safety apparently. She expected in those fast seconds, that she would be a shield used by her kidnapper but not for the kidnapper to be her shield. She saw through her fingers the figure before her throw back his head in pain as he took on the brunt of the attacks from the many Pokémon.

The male collapsed as he smoked, his body burnt and rigid as Olivia looked down at him curiously as she looked at the people coming to pick him up. She wanted to thank him. Well how do you thank your kidnapper?

"Stop…I will take him," Lenora said to the group of police with her hands on her hips as the rest of the group came to join them. Olivia was hugged by Acerola and some of the other's who glared at the slumped figure who was twitching slightly. The officer's looked at them and nodded, since they were powerhouses in the world. It would be a problem if they caused a fuss.

So they let them go with the strange man…


End file.
